


Postpartum Blues

by attyohsehun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Crack, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 01:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16253939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attyohsehun/pseuds/attyohsehun
Summary: Baekhyun knew there was something wrong the day Chanyeol put down his guitar and announced that they needed to go to the mall to shop for maternity clothes.





	Postpartum Blues

"Next. Mrs. Park Bak-yoon? Back-hoon?"

["Park Baekhyun."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJv_gtP08Eo)

"Oh, yes. Mrs. Park Baekhyun. Come in."

Baekhyun slowly made her way through the open door of the makeshift clinic beside the delivery room. She has been in active labor for three hours already, and to say that it hurt like hell would somehow be an understatement.

"Ah, good evening, Mrs. Park. Nice to see you," a small man with rotund cheeks and thick horn-rimmed glasses extended a hand, greeting her – a little too jovially for Baekhyun's liking. Kim Minseok - Obstetrician - his nameplate said.

"Good evening, Dr. Kim," Baekhyun managed in reply, albeit a little breathily as she took the proffered handshake. Another contraction chose that very moment to occur and Baekhyun couldn't help but squeeze the doctor's hand.

"Ow..." Dr. Kim started, but recovered himself quickly – pursing his lips so as to prevent himself from yelping due to the pain on his hand – Baekhyun, after all, was a martial artist before a certain Park Chanyeol came into her life and "domesticated" her. Nobody warned her about how painful childbirth was. She really should have stuck to Hapkido. Seriously.

"So, Mrs. Park, when was your LMP? EDC?" the doctor muttered nonchalantly, to which Baekhyun could only raise an eyebrow in response.

If it weren't for another contraction, she would've been tempted to make a snarky comeback. What the heck were LMP and EDC? Was he sure he didn't mean LMAO and IDC? Darn. Chanyeol and his internet language were surely rubbing off on her. Now that she thinks about it, she wondered what happened to her husband.

"Um, sorry? I don't understand."

"Oh, I meant when was your last menstrual period? Do you know your expected date of confinement?"

"I see. Hmmm... It was June 14, 2018. And um, I don't know when exactly I should give birth. I haven't had prenatal check-ups since... since my fifth month or something."

The doctor took a sharp intake of breath and said dramatically: "Why would you not have prenatal check-ups? It's vital to the health of your developing fetus! And you should get tetanus toxoid shots and a hepatitis B vaccine! Wait, where's your husband? What kind of an irresponsible husband wouldn't take care of her wife during pregnancy!?"

"Errr... We have issues."

"Still, that's not an excuse. It's his responsibility to see to it that you are attended to. Pregnancy is not a joke. What with the morning sickness on top of it all. And seriously! What's with the,  _‘you don't love me anymore because I'm so fat already,’_  mentality you pregnant women have! It's only natural to gain a few pounds - I mean 24-28 pounds is the average - but still, it varies. “Besides, the fetus alone accounts for about 3,400 grams of that weight - then the placenta weighs about 450 grams. Another 900 grams for the amniotic fluid, 1,100 grams for the uterus, 1,400 grams for breast tissue - not that I'm complaining - the increase in blood volume adds about 1,800 grams, then the remaining 1,800-3,600 grams is necessary for maternal stores. It's like you didn't gain weight at all! Except that you do. But that's beside the point! Still, how can Chen think I'd cheat on her just because she's pregnant and her down there would never be the same again! Has she got no shame? She didn't marry the best gynecologist in town for nothing. Episiotomies are my thing, thank you very much." Dr. Kim was flailing his hands over his head by this time and Baekhyun would've laughed at the scene if not for another contraction radiating from her lower back which made her gasp in pain.

Dr. Kim came to her side upon noticing her discomfort and started to rub small circles on her lower back where all the contractions seemed to radiate from. This somehow eased some of her pain and the contraction ceased after a few seconds. Dr. Kim then returned behind his desk and scribbled a few notes on Baekhyun's chart - all the while glancing at the clock perched on the wall. Baekhyun noticed that he looked at the time every time she had a contraction but she was in so much pain to be bothered with what it was all about.

Baekhyun was in the middle of trying to remember the brand name of the iron supplements she took when a petite nurse suddenly barged into the room - panting and looking for all the world like she just ran a marathon.

"Minseok! I mean, Dr. Kim," the nurse corrected upon seeing that there was a patient in the clinic.

"Yes, babe?" Dr. Kim replied, obviously nonplussed.

The nurse blushed a deep shade of scarlet before recovering. She stood up to her full height – which wasn't much – but still, the angry glint in her eyes would've made anyone squirm. Except that, Dr. Kim didn't seem to be affected. He's weird - Baekhyun decided.

"Dr. Kim! I thought we already talked about this!" the nurse, Kim Jongdae according to her nameplate, retorted hotly.

"I know. And I thought I've already made it pretty clear that I can't be bothered with hiding our relationship. I'm proud to have you as my wife! Why should I hide it? Are you ashamed of me?" Baekhyun was surprised to see that Dr. Kim pouted – he actually pouted!

"You know it's not like that." Jongdae's features visibly softened, her voice reduced to a whisper.

"Then why are you making me do this? What's wrong with that?" Minseok asked indignantly.

"What's wrong is that we are colleagues! We should learn to differentiate our home life from work. It's bad enough that the other nurses hate me. They always talk behind my back – complaining about the fact that they don't get to scrub in on your operations. It makes me feel as if I don't deserve any of this. That… I don't deserve you."

Dr. Kim's scowl eased itself and he strode around his table to envelop his wife who was now on the brink of tears in a tight hug.

"Chen Chen, baby. I'm sorry okay? I'm trying. I'll try harder," Dr. Kim whispered onto his wife's hair.

"Really?" Jongdae blinked up at her husband - eyes as wide as saucers. Baekhyun thought she looked cute – even cuter than herself – and that says a lot.

"Yes. I promise. I'm not so sure about letting that nurse Sehun scrub in though. I still can't forget how I spent two hours stitching a certain patient's perineum when he failed to support it well. It was a fourth degree laceration! Fourth degree!" Dr. Kim all but squeaked.

Jongdae merely chuckled and patted her husband's chest playfully.

"Hey! Give him a break. He was new that time. He has improved quite a lot by now."

Baekhyun found the conversation between the love birds extremely cute and she started to “aww” but it turned into an “ow” as another contraction started. She gasped from the pain and the two other people in the room who seemed to forget her presence, turned their heads simultaneously towards her.

"Oh my god! I forgot! The reason why I came here in the first place is that there's a stat C/S waiting for you in the O.R. Let's go!" Jongdae said hastily - grabbing Minseok by the scruff of his smock without giving Baekhyun so much as another glance.

Baekhyun remained stock still as she watched the couple leave the clinic and it took her a few minutes to regain her composure. She couldn't believe she has just been abandoned in a time like this. She quickly stood up, ready to head to the office of the hospital's medical director or whoever's in charge to give them a piece of her mind, when another contraction started and she could do nothing more than just clutch her stomach in pain. She stumbled out of the room and was relieved to find that the delivery room was situated right alongside it. She pushed the door open only to find to her horror that there was no one inside – very unlikely, but literally, there was no one.

Baekhyun wanted to pull her hair out from the frustration because seriously, of all times this should happen, it just had to coincide with the day she has to give birth! What luck. She was furious but she figured she would have to help herself since no one was there. Not even Chanyeol, the bastard. This was his doing, after all.

Baekhyun dragged her feet across the hall as fast as the pain would allow her and was welcomed with the words: "OPERATING ROOM" emblazoned on the front of the swinging doors. She slowly pushed the door and was surprised see that the room is in a state of chaos. Doctors and nurses were walking, or more like running, back and forth – shouts of orders and whatnot filling the atmosphere. The coppery scent of blood hung in the air. In a sense of the word, it is a battlefield in there.

Baekhyun was in a daze as she eyed the figures busily strutting in front of her and she slowly slid herself into the room – leaving the side of the door wherein she had been peeking from. Her vision was occupied with a blur of various colors of scrubs, although the color white seemed to dominate everything else. No one seemed to pay her any heed so she decided to walk in further until she reached the center of the activity. She stood on tiptoes and swore that the mere sight of what was going on in the operating table would've had her giving birth right there and then.

Baekhyun felt weak-kneed as she blindly searched for the nearest wall to clutch onto for support – finding none, she clung to the closest person and was surprised to find that it was the nurse from earlier. Jongdae seemed as surprised as Baekhyun and quickly pulled her back out of the area – seating her on a chair just behind a line on the floor which made no sense to the latter.

"Oh my god. Missus?"

"Park."

A momentary look of confusion was etched on the young nurse's face before she shrugged it off.

"Oh, yeah, Mrs. Park. What are you doing here?"

"I...My..." Baekhyun found herself incoherent. She couldn't form proper words and she hung her head low instead. Just then, a contraction crept up on her insides and she was glad that Jongdae was quick to massage her lower back upon observing the grimace on her face.

"Oh, sorry. There was an emergency and they needed Min... I mean Dr. Kim to assist in surgery. He's the best at what he does so he had to leave you. We're very sorry for the inconvenience. We hope you understand. Wait, I'll get you another doctor."

Jongdae reappeared as fast as she had disappeared and was tagging along a tall, lanky man whose smile seemed to be out of place in the sea of worried faces. Dr. Kim Jongin, his name plate read.

"Hi, Mrs. Park. I’m Dr. Kim Jongin but you can call me Kai.”

“Okay,” was all Baekhyun could answer. She was still so preoccupied with what she had seen a few minutes prior.

Jongdae came back into the room holding what could only be Baekhyun’s patient chart. She handed it to Dr. Kai before heading back towards the table where Minseok was operating.

-FLASHBACK-

Baekhyun’s pregnancy started pretty normally. By the 20th week, they already knew that they’d be having a baby boy. Chanyeol was particularly ecstatic at the prospect of “Chanyeol Junior” and went ranting on and on about how he’d groom his son to be the world’s greatest musician. Yeah, big dreams, he said.

Baekhyun’s gynecologist, Dr. Zhang, was a woman in her mid-forties with a dimpled-smile. She has been guiding them in every step of the way – acting for all the world like a mother to all of her patients. Thus, everything went smoothly. She had instructed Baekhyun on what to do whenever she felt morning sickness and whatnot – briefing her of the possible symptoms she may experience as her pregnancy progressed. Oddly enough, Baekhyun never really had observed many changes in her physiology. Sure, her belly grew inch by inch and she seemed to become hungrier than usual, but all in all, she was good. No mood swings, no unreasonable food cravings, no headaches, nothing.

Baekhyun took it as a good sign; until the day Chanyeol yelled at her for not buying tomatoes, oranges, pickled eggs, ice pops, and a lot more kinds of food that Baekhyun didn’t even know Chanyeol ate. Baekhyun passed it off as another one of her husband’s sudden outbreaks of brattiness. Being the younger sibling, Chanyeol always got what he wanted, so Baekhyun cooked his favorite jjajangmyun and when he turned it down, Baekhyun knew they had to see a doctor.

The doctor, Dr. Kim Junmyeon, could only chuckle as Baekhyun started to enumerate her husband's 'symptoms', frustrating her all the more.

"So, what’s wrong with him?” she asked worriedly.

Chanyeol sighed while shaking his head from side to side.

Dr. Kim seemed amused and chuckled once more before he spoke.“There’s nothing wrong with him,” he answered with a smile and Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to wipe out that smile off the doctor’s pretty face.  Chanyeol gave her a look and was meant to say something along the lines of “I told you so,” when a glare from Baekhyun silenced him and he resorted to go back to sulking.

“Seriously? But why is he vomiting? And why is he so pissy these days?”

Chanyeol made a sound on the back of his throat as a sign of protest when Baekhyun gripped his wrist as a warning. He ended up squeaking, because hell, his wife was strong. Of course, it was a squeak in the manliest sense of the word.

“Yes. Seriously. I’d refer you to Yixing so she could explain to you about these things.”

As it turned out, this Dr. Kim was her gynecologist’s husband. Baekhyun was pretty sure their children were jolly ones.

***

They were in Dr. Zhang’s clinic in no time.

“Junmyeon told me about your problem,” Dr. Zhang said in between laughs.

It took Dr. Zhang a few minutes to regain her composure and she dabbed on the corner of her eyes before continuing.

“Apparently, what you have is Couvade Syndrome,” she stated matter-of-factly while facing Chanyeol.

“It is pretty rare, although history dates it back to the time of Marco Polo. It is often referred to as sympathetic pregnancy. The cause is still unknown, but studies show that the male partner cohabitating with a pregnant female will experience hormonal shifts in his prolactin, cortisol, estradiol and testosterone levels. It’s as if he himself is undergoing the pregnancy.”

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol’s particularly growing bosom. So that’s why her husband had been obviously getting curvier these days. It wasn’t just simple pigging out. Chanyeol merely shrugged and Dr. Zhang continued.

“Others say fathers who experience Couvade syndrome feel jealous and left out and are subconsciously trying to get people to pay a little attention to them. Have you been treating him well, Baek? You should prepare yourself! You wouldn’t believe how much of a girl they become. When Junmyeon went through it, I was basically growing crazy myself.”

_That explained the laughter; they had experienced it firsthand._

Baekhyun raised her eyebrows at her husband and was surprised to find him frowning. She merely chuckled and squeezed Chanyeol’s hand.

“Chanyeol may experience pregnancy symptoms such as sleeplessness, indigestion, nausea, mood swings, weight gain, toothaches, itching, nosebleed and even cysts. Some psychologists have also speculated that Couvade symptoms may be the expectant dad's subconscious way of showing his wife that he's serious about being with her. After all, it's easy to lie about loving her and wanting to be a good dad, but it's a lot harder to fake a cyst or a nosebleed.”

Upon hearing this, Baekhyun couldn’t help but beam at her husband. A few minutes later, they walked out of Dr. Zhang’s clinic with goofy smiles plastered on their faces – hand in hand, looking every bit the part of the love birds that they were – Baekhyun’s promises of stocking ice pops made Chanyeol grin from ear-to-ear.

***

As weeks passed, Baekhyun had become quite accustomed to Chanyeol’s mood swings. She saw to it that Chanyeol got to eat what he wanted and gave in to his wants. Baekhyun thought how ironic it was for a woman like her with her burgeoning belly to go to the 24-hour store at night to buy her husband decaffeinated coffee because he insisted that the coffee they already had in their pantry was not in accordance to his taste.

This went on and on for a few more weeks and Baekhyun tried her best to understand her husband’s condition. Nevertheless, Baekhyun knew there was something wrong the day Chanyeol put down his guitar and announced that they needed to go to the mall to shop for maternity clothes.

Chanyeol was the type of person who would feel the gravity double upon entering such establishments. In the two years that they were married and their three years of prior dating included, Baekhyun could count the number of times Chanyeol actually went shopping willingly with the fingers on her right hand – and that involved a couple of releases of new models of who-knows-what-it’s-called musical equipment Chanyeol seemed to be so fond of.

So, Baekhyun couldn’t fathom what in the world possessed her husband for him to drag her – for he actually did just that – to the mall. Not to mention being pissy at how sexist it was that there were lots of stores such as  _Motherhood_  and  _Maternity_.

“Why aren’t there Fatherhood or Paternity stores in here!?” were Chanyeol’s actual words.

“And, oh, honey, make sure you get the pants with maternity panels. We wouldn’t want them stretch marks blemishing your perfect abdomen, would we?” Chanyeol giggled – a very manly giggle, he insisted.

Baekhyun wanted the ground to swallow her whole when the saleslady raised her eyebrows at them – and wow those eyebrows could move. They literally disappeared behind her bangs. Chanyeol didn’t seem to mind though and continued to sift through racks and racks of maternity clothes – seemingly oblivious about his wife’s pained look.

Then, a few days later, Baekhyun almost called 911 when upon waking, she felt the other side of the bed empty. Chanyeol never woke up early – as in, never. When she saw Chanyeol in the kitchen, wearing a pink flowery apron whilst scrubbing the tiles so hard that Baekhyun actually felt bad for the microorganisms and bacteria lurking in between them, Baekhyun was quite sure that the apocalypse was upon them. She was certain she married a slob – she loved him of course, but he could only be called that.

Another visit to Dr. Zhang and a series of sonograms was enough to turn their world upside down.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

  
“Mrs. Park? Are you all right?”

Baekhyun was jolted out of her reveries when Dr. Kai’s voice boomed somewhere in front of her while a penlight was being directed towards her eyes – making her squint.

“Yes. I’m fine,” she managed.

“As I’ve reviewed your chart, it has come to my attention that you have been in labor for quite some time now yet there has been no progress in your dilatation. I have conferred with Dr. Kim Minseok and he agrees that you may have Cephalopelvic Disproportion.”

"Cephalopelvic what!?”

“Disproportion. It means that your pelvis may not be big enough to accommodate your baby’s size or that the fetus may be too big for him to pass through your birth canal. Thus, we highly suggest that you undergo cesarean section as soon as possible.”

Baekhyun facepalmed as she was handed a sheet of paper that turned out to be a waiver for her consent. So much for believing that she was bestowed with very good “birthing hips.” Clearly, her whole life has been a lie.

She was assisted by another nurse into a patient’s gown and onto a gurney before being wheeled into another room not quite far from the one she had been to a while ago.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice scream and she jolted right up even before the anesthesiologist could say, “One.”

“Mrs. Park? Are you okay?” the anesthesiologist, a young man who seemed to have a bit of an accent, questioned her – looking like he just saw a ghost. He was, after all, about to insert a needle into Baekhyun’s spine. Who knew what could’ve happened if he hit something else in there!

“My husband. Can I see him?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure we can arrange for that. Where is he?”

“He’s in the next room.”

“Say what!?”

***

Baekhyun didn’t know what happened after. Arrangements were made here and there and the next thing she knew, she was on the operating table beside Chanyeol's – their hands just touching where they were strapped onto their sides. A few minutes later, a pair of shrill cries reverberated all over the room and Baekhyun felt a squeeze on her hand before the both of them were swallowed by darkness.

EPILOGUE - 5 years later

"Daddyyyyyyy! Waaaaake up!!!" Little Yeolmae all but screeched into her father's ear – startling the living daylights out of the poor man.

Chanyeol groaned upon hearing his daughter's wailing. Seriously, how could something so loud come from a body so small? He tried to shut his eyes with all his might and snuggled close to the warmth of his wife – only for his face to be haphazardly pushed away by a groggy Baekhyun.

Chanyeol mentally facepalmed as Yeolmae continued her efforts to destroy her father's ear drums. He knew he should've stayed away from Heechul when he was carrying her. If there was one thing Chanyeol regretted in his life, it would probably be hanging around Baekhyun's cousin too much when he was pregnant. Truthfully, one Kim Heechul in this world was already too much to handle.

In the past, Chanyeol had wondered how Heechul's mother had survived her son, seeing that Heechul was already a handful as a middle-aged man. How much more of a headache could he have been when he was five? Chanyeol needn't imagine that now though, because he could see how Heechul's mother may have suffered in the past as he eyed the mini-Hee in the form of his five-year old daughter who was pulling on his hair by this time. Although he had to give points to him on how pretty his daughter has become.

"Looks can be deceiving. How true..." Chanyeol sighed.

"Chanyeol. It's yours," Baekhyun mumbled and soon resumed snoring.

But Baekhyun was right. It was his. Quite literally.

He couldn't believe that this one came from him. How could the girl come from him? He's the guy for God's sakes! The guy with the testosterone and all that shit. But then again, when you think about it, maybe he wasn't much of a guy after all. Heck, normal men don't get pregnant! He wouldn't be surprised if his wife had a higher testosterone level than him.

"Mommyyyyyy..." a sleepy Chanhyun walked into the room – rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Chanyeol smirked victoriously as the little boy shook his mother's shoulders and succeeded in waking her up.

"And that, I believe, is yours," he whispered into Baekhyun's ear before scooping the giddy Yeolmae in his arms and slipping quickly out of the room – just in time to avoid the pillow thrown at him which collided with the door instead.

After all, they vowed to be together. If Chanyeol remembered correctly, it was along the lines of: “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness,” – and if Chanyeol had to be awake at such an ungodly hour, he'd rather have Baekhyun be awake too.

_It's only fair._

**Author's Note:**

> \- In today's issue of WHATTHEHELLISTHIS WADDUP EM =*  
> \- Unbeta'd. Grammar errors and altogether FAILING at life are part and parcel of my existence TYVM.  
> \- Written because I saw that video at the airport where Baekhyun sounded like he said 'Park Baekhyun' (although I think he really said 'Bak-Hyun')  
> \- Sorry for the incoherence. I was too lazy to write the part which explains how Chanyeol got pregnant. I was gonna write it, but I couldn't be bothered. The 'scientific' gibberish gives me a headache LOL. So I thought I'd just explain it a little here:  
> You see, female hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, prolactin, etc. are also present in males, although they produce it in much more minute amounts as compared to females. What I did with Chanyeol here is something I refer to as "male gestation" - which is, impossible IRL but I was like WTH, fiction is fiction. LOL. Basically, I just sort of implied that Chanyeol's already existent female hormones went on an overdrive and somehow, he was able to achieve fertilization and implantation and so on and so forth. In this story, the sudden elevation in his female hormones which led to the pregnancy could be attributed to the emotional stress he was going through as Baekhyun got pregnant for the first time. IDK if I'm making sense but I hope it clears things up. T^T


End file.
